Past Mistakes
by Raven'sFly
Summary: Harry and Ginny enjoy a quick "Night In" but Harry cannot get someone else out of his mind.


Harry's desk was a nightmare. Confiscated dark artifacts sat atop mounds of paperwork interspersed with bits of blank parchment, old quills, Jelly Slugs, a Sneakoscoope, and empty tea cups. He had instructed his assistant to make sure he wasn't disturbed and entered the office with a fierce determination that cooled slightly as soon as he caught sight of the mess.

Taking a deep breath, Harry summoned an empty box with a lazy flick of his wand. Over the next hour, he trudged through sorting the mess. Papers needing to be filed were stacked on the floor while ones still needing his attention were stacked in his chair. The box was soon overflowing with cursed books, bottles of revolting-looking potions, a tea set that curses any muggles who drink from it, a Hand of Glory, and other small odds and ends confiscated from dark witches and wizards.

He was glancing over a memo from the Head of Magical Law Enforcement while absentmindedly reaching for something else to put in the box when there was a soft knock and his office door opened slightly.

"I'm sorry, sir," Gretchen said leaning through the opening. "I know you didn't want to be disturbed, but you have a visitor and I think you're going to want to take this one."

"Give me a moment and send them in," Harry said as he picked his wand up from the desk and pointed it at the stack of papers on the floor. They flew obediently into their proper places in his file cabinets. Another quick flick vanished the cups, sweets, and general rubbish from his desk. The rest of the paperwork floated into a box on top of the cabinets to wait for his future attention and the Sneakoscoope returned to its proper place on the table by the door.

He sat down and begun to sign the memo when a stinging itch on the back of his hand stopped him. Harry looked at his hand and froze. "I must not tell lies" stood out shockingly white against the rest of his skin in the firelight as his fingers wrapped tighter around the Black Quill. Disgusted, Harry flung the quill into the box of dark artifacts and banished the whole thing to the far corner of his office.

"Having a bad day, Potter," asked a soft, slow voice from the door.

Harry's eyes snapped up as his pulse quickened. Nearly ten years of working off-and-on with Draco Malfoy had done nothing to change the adrenaline rush and near panicked alertness that overcame Harry when he appeared unexpectedly.

"No, just a long one," Harry said forcing his voice to stay calm as the panic drained away but his heart continued to pound. "What can I do for you, Draco?"

Draco didn't answer at first. Instead, a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth as he continued to look over Harry.

"Malfoy," Harry said in a louder tone causing Draco's eyes to snap back to his.

"Actually, I think there's something I can do for you," he said closing the door and sitting in the armchair across from Harry's desk. "I've found Macnair."

Harry could only stare for a moment. Macnair had been the executioner for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures during Harry's third year at Hogwarts. He had also been an exceptionally bloodthirsty and violent Death Eater. Like too many others, he had vanished during the Battle of Hogwarts. Both sides had suffered losses. While most were found, lifeless, among the rubble in the days following the battle, some were simply never found. Macnair's disappearance had never felt right to Harry and he had made sure to include his name in records of those still missing and wanted by the Auror department.

"Where," Harry asked after placing additional privacy spells on his office door and window.

"I've been hearing rumors that he survived for a few years now. Until last week, I hadn't come across anything credible," Draco began, leaning back and running a hand through his hair while the other came to rest on the arm of the chair. He was dressed in muggle clothing today. Boots, black jeans, dark-emerald green sweater, and soft leather jacket. His hair was slightly damp from rain and a few pale strands fell in front of his eyes.

"Word started coming in that he'd been spotted in a wizard village near Inverness. Ginevra and I spent a few nights in the Village and finally spotted him in a shop buying new robes. We followed him when he left. He's living in a large manor several miles from the village. I've placed a team of Order members to keep an eye on him while I came to you."

"I assume Ginny stayed with them," Harry asked

"That is one stubborn witch," Draco said, a smile pulling at one corner of his mouth in a way that made Harry's heart skip a beat. An image of a shirtless Draco bent roughly over the top of his desk came, unwelcome, to his mind. Harry attempted to push the thought away as he adjusted to a more comfortable position in his chair.

Draco's smile turned smoothly into a knowing smirk that made Harry consider, for a moment, putting his mouth to better use.

Their eyes locked for a moment and Harry could still feel the connection. He could feel the ghost of Draco's hands on his body, his hot mouth trailing kisses across his chest...

Harry forced himself to look away. He closed his eyes, swallowed a deep breath of air, and re-focused his mind. Draco had been a mistake. He had been a moment of weakness; a product of too many months without physical contact, the thrill of the hunt, and his desperate need to feel _anything_ after the war. He had been nothing more than a few moments of mutual, savage release in a broom shed.

 _The past is in the past,_ Harry thought to himself several times before looking back at Malfoy who was staring at Harry with such an odd expression that Harry worried he had spoken the words.

 _The past is in the past,_ Harry thought again. _But I need to get him out of my office NOW._

"Take a team of aurors with you," Harry said summoning a few papers from the box on his cabinets. "Together with the Order members you shouldn't have a problem taking him. I want him alive. Have him watched for a few days first. Lets see if he can lead us to anyone else before we make our move."

Draco was silent for a moment while his eyes studied Harry's face.

"Of course," Draco said standing. "I'll update you as soon as I have any new information."

Harry watched as Draco walked to the door and opened it. As much as he tried, he couldn't keep his eyes from noticing how the denim shaped to Draco's legs or the way his fingers trailed through his hair as he pushed it back from his eyes again. He couldn't stop his body from reacting to the way Draco moved. Harry could only watch as the door swung shut. It was taking everything he had not to call Draco back.

Harry couldn't take it any more. He pulled a bit of parchment from his desk and scribbled a quick note:

 _I need something to take my mind off of work._

 _You up for a night in once you're done?_

 _My place around 9?_

 _Wear that black dress I like._

 _-H_

Harry rolled up the parchment and gave it to his office owl. He let Gretchen know he was leaving, threw a handful of floo-powder into the fire, and stepped in.

X X X

Harry's house was in the country. He liked the quiet, he liked having a space that was all his own, and he enjoyed his long walks to and from The Burrow on Saturday evenings. This, however, was Friday and he was looking forward to a few hours of company later.

His kitchen was clean when he stepped through the fireplace. Molly had evidently been around to tidy things while he was at work today. Harry made a mental note to thank her as he walked across the kitchen to put the kettle on and begin the ritual of making tea.

Harry was just sitting down at the table with his tea and a tin of biscuits when there was a scratching at the window. Harry groaned when he saw Ginny's owl outside. She didn't usually respond by owl when he suggested a night in unless she already had plans. She would simply show up on his doorstep or walk out of his fire dressed in little more than a cloak.

Harry opened the window and let the owl inside. It stood perfectly still and allowed him to untie the scroll from its leg before taking off back through the open window. Resigning himself to another night alone, Harry dropped the unopened scroll on the table and opened the tin of biscuits.

Maybe it was for the best anyway. Harry loved the whole Weasley family. They had taken him in as one of their own and never looked back. Arthur and Molly were the parents Harry had never had. They accepted the good with the bad. He had never met two people more accepting, open, generous, and understanding.

There was a time when Harry expected to be an official part of their family. For a few years after the war, him and Ginny had been inseparable. They grew so close, it was easy to imagine them as one being. They found safety in each others arms and comfort in the sweet oblivion of lovemaking.

Relationships forged in the intense emotions of war either work or they don't and you don't always get to know why. Harry had slowly realized that there was something missing in their relationship; some undefinable requirement that wasn't being met. Lovemaking had become simply sex. It was an intense, physically exhilarating experience but beyond filling a need, it had begun to lack a deeper connection. Ginny had felt the same and they decided to end their romantic relationship (while continuing to still enjoy a physical one from time to time.)

Arthur and Molly had, of course, been understanding about the breakup. There had been an awkward conversation in which Arthur assured Harry that there were no hard feelings and Molly had gone out of her way to make sure Harry still felt like one of her children. Thinking of Arthur and Molly made him feel guilty because he didn't think their understanding and acceptance would extend to frequent, causal sex with their only daughter.

Harry cleared the dishes from the table and moved to the sofa for a few hours of mindless, muggle television.

X X X

Harry woke with a jump. The television was playing the local news, his glasses were askew from having fallen asleep on the sofa, and his heart was racing.

"Hello... Harry?" said a woman's voice loudly from the kitchen.

"Coming," Harry said straightening his glasses with a smile. Ginny had changed her mind.

He stood and walked to the kitchen; his erection pressing against the fabric of his slacks before he reached the end of the hallway. He opened the kitchen door and there she stood. She was wearing an emerald cloak with the hood up around her face. Her copper hair hung loose to the tops of breasts barely contained by the low-cut neckline of her tight, black dress. Harry's eyes traveled up her long legs taking in every inch of her.

Harry didn't say a word. He let the door swing closed behind him as he crossed the room and lifted her off the floor in a deep and brutal kiss. Ginny kissed him back unbuttoning her cloak and matching his ferocity as he carried her to the table.

Harry laid her back and spread her legs as he kissed along her exposed thigh. He smiled when he realized she hadn't worn anything under her dress. Cupping her ass with both hands, Harry pulled her pulled her into a more easily accessible position. Ginny threw her head back, panting as he brought her closer and closer to climax.

Harry slowed and Ginny cried out, "Oh come on, Harry!"

Harry smirked at her as he picked his wand up from the table to preform a contraceptive spell.

"You better have what it takes to back up that smirk, Potter." Ginny said his name in a way that made his erection surge even harder.

"Oh, I have something for you, Weasley," Harry said pulling her from the table and turning her around.

Ginny leaned over the table and grabbed the far edge so that her breasts pressed against the surface of the table and her butt-cheeks lifted slightly in welcome. Harry smacked one sharply with an open palm and was rewarded with sharp intake of breath and a laugh.

Harry entered her slowly. He moved all the way in and pulled slowly back out before pounding into her again. He blocked out every other thought and closed his eyes. Harry kept a steady rhythm as he lost himself in the smoothness of her skin, the warmth of her body, and her wetness wrapped around him.

Ginny moved against him, pushing back, matching his thrusts, breaking his concentration, and bringing random thought back to his mind. It returned with a vision of pale hair dropping in front of Grey eyes. Harry's movements became more and more desperate as he imagined Draco bent over the table instead of Ginny. It was Draco's voice Harry heard call his name as he reached the edge and blew past it with blinding intensity.

For an eternity in a second, nothing existed except the bright whiteness Harry associated with the world between the living and the dead. Then the world came crashing back with his next breath and he collapsed against her for a moment before straightening and buttoning his slacks.

"I don't know what's got you so worked up today, Harry, but I like it," Ginny said pulling her dress back down and picking up her cloak from the floor.

"It's a long story," he said rubbing his hand through his messy hair. "I'm glad you changed your mind."

"Changed my mind about what?" she asked confused.

"When your owl arrived, I just assumed you had plans tonight."

Ginny laughed as she draped the cloak back around her shoulders.

"Harry, don't you _READ_ your mail?" she said. "I didn't send the owl. Draco borrowed it when he got back from your meeting today."

Harry looked down at the table, but didn't see the scroll anywhere.

"He mentioned you were there with the Order. Is it really Macnair?"

"Yes. There's no doubt. It's him."

"Are you headed back out there tonight?"

"No. The Aurors you sent and a few other Order members are keeping a close watch on him tonight. I'm going to go home and get some sleep. Malfoy and I are headed back out there in the morning."

"Be careful, Gin."

"I will. Thanks for tonight," she said taking a handful of floo-powder and tossing it into the fire. "See you, Harry."

She stepped into the fire and was gone.

Harry looked around for the scroll and found it on the floor under the table.

He broke the wax seal and read:

 _Not EVERYTHING from the past needs to stay there._

 _-D.M._

Harry stood, alone in his kitchen, staring at the line of fine script for several moments before their meaning registered in his mind. Before he could stop himself, he was back across the room dropping a handful of floo-powder into the fire.

Harry stepped into the flames and said clearly, "Malfoy Manner," before disappearing.


End file.
